Ice, Iron, and Fire, Working Together
by Insomniac Tiger
Summary: Gray, Gajeel, and Natsu go on a mission to learn how to work better together. As usual, things don't go so smoothly.
1. Chapter 1

"This is stupid. Why did we all have to go on this mission? I could have done this myself." Gajeel huffed as he swung his iron fists at another oncoming gang member.

"Master's orders." Gray shrugged before shooting ice-spears at a group trying to escape. "He said we needed to learn to work together better."

"Screw that. I always take solo missions anyway."

"Yeah. Besides I didn't think we had problems."

Gajeel grabbed the back of one of the gang member's jackets as he was trying to escape and threw him into the wall of the alleyway building. The wall cracked loudly from the force of the hit.

"Hey watch it! The reason we left Natsu behind was because I need this reward and don't want to pay for property damages." Gray snapped. Maybe Dragon Slayers just can't contain themselves...

Gajeel chuckled thinking of how they had ditched Natsu. Out of irritation to something the Fire Dragon Slayer had said Gray had created a cage of thick ice around him. But to further anger his rival Gajeel had layered the ice with a thicker layer of iron. Inside they could hear Natsu shouting challenges and calling them cowards. They had quickly left for the mission of ridding the town of the gang members.

"Its a little odd he hasn't joined us yet." Gray said as an after thought.

"Probably got distracted by some food." Gajeel shrugged slamming the last guy's face into the dirt.

Gray looked at the scene before them. They had kept it relatively neat. Gajeel made cuffs for each of them then chained them to the wall to be picked up later.

"I don't know..." Gray said. "That Flame-Brain isn't one to miss a fight."

"He is more easily distracted then that blue cat of his when it sees a fish." Gajeel grunted.

"True. But something feels off. We better go back and see what he's done."

If there was one word to describe Natsu, it was NOT 'predictable', but one thing Gray could count on was that the idiot would never miss a fight. The more he thought about it the more concerned he grew for the part of town they had left him in. The cage had not been that large, but depending on how much they had angered the Dragon Slayer the town around it could have just a bit of debris where the cage was or he could have taken out all the buildings for miles around. When they approached the makeshift cage they were both equally surprised to find it exactly the way they left it. They quickly released Natsu to find him passed out in the center.

"He was taking a damn nap?" Gajeel growled. "Not like we needed him of course."

Gray walked over and shoved him with his boot. "Hey ash-for-brains. Get up."

Natsu wasn't moving.

"Shit." Gray muttered.

"Heavy sleeper." Gajeel grunted.

"He's a fire wizard."

"No shit."

"Seriously. Basic science. What does fire need to live? Besides that, what do humans need to live?" Gray was mumbling as he dropped to his knees to check his teammate's pulse.

"Food?" Gajeel guessed. "We weren't gone _that_ long."

"Oxygen idiot."

"Damn." The Iron Dragon Slayer realized what they had unknowingly done. Natsu had probably yelled at them continuously not knowing they had left and not realizing that he was using up the small supply of oxygen he had.

"But he's got air now." Gajeel pointed out. "He'll be fine."

"Except he's not breathing."

* * *

 _I absolutely love Fairy Tail. Today one of my students asked me why sometimes fire grows when air blows on it rather than dying like when someone blows out birthday candles. Naturally at the mention of fire my mind jumped to the Fire Dragon Slayer._

 _Leave a review if you would like to see more of this!_


	2. Chapter 2

"What?" Gajeel peered closer to see what the ice-make wizard was doing kneeling next to Natsu. "The hell you doing?!"

Gray had his lips wrapped around Natsu's, and was pinching the Dragon Slayer's nose. He came up gasping then moved to do chest compressions. "Dammit! I said he's not breathing!"

As the Iron Dragon Slayer stood there watching Gray methodically go through the steps of CPR he realized that Natsu was in serious trouble. And he was just standing there doing nothing. Not that he cared. The fire bastard was a moron. One less crazy ass running around destroying things. Great. Sighing he shook his head slightly. Who was he kidding? "I'm going to go try to contact the Master and see if he can send Wendy. And maybe find a local medic."

Gray nodded his head, but was busy counting chest compressions. How did this happen? The mission was simple. The day had been boring in fact! Until now. Did he and Gajeel seriously just kill Natsu? Even by accident?

"Shit! Natsu! Snap out of it!" Gray yelled at the unconscious form. "Is this seriously how the great Fire Dragon Slayer dies?! Suffocation from a bit of ice and iron? That's not how you die. That's not it." He began to deliver the rescue breaths again. How many times had he gone through this? Was it too late? What if Natsu had stopped breathing a long time before they showed up? Was he wasting his time here? No. He was definitely not wasting his time. Back to chest compressions.

"Do you hear me Natsu?! This isn't how you die! Do you know what Erza is going to do to your ass when she hears about this?! Lucy will cry Natsu! Do you want to make her cry? And Happy still needs you too! Happy needs you!" He had been yelling ridiculously loud, practically screeching. But he quieted himself for a moment to try rescues breaths again.

It was then he realized that there was an audience gathering around them. Part of him wanted to tell them to quit staring and go find help. But Gajeel was on that. Hopefully. And he needed to give Natsu a hundred percent of his attention. He sat back for a second to check his pulse. It was faint. But the Dragon Slayer's heart wasn't giving out yet. A normal person's probably would have by now. But not Natsu. He wasn't giving up. He never did. "Natsu. Get up." His voice was hoarse now. "Dammit! Fiore still needs you! You're my rival! I need you to get your lazy ass up and fight me!" He practically attacked Natsu with chest compressions.

That's when Gajeel showed up with an emergency medic team.

"Sir. We need to get him to the hospital." One of the men tried to tap Gray's shoulder but the ice-make wizard was beyond reason.

Snarling he swatted at them before returning his focus on Natsu. Gajeel stepped up and grabbed Gray off the ground holding him in a binding hug against his chest. Gray squirmed but there was no escaping the iron grip of the Dragon Slayer. "Let me go Gajeel!" But Gajeel waited till the medics had loaded Natsu into the magic vehicle and were on their way to the hospital before letting Gray go.

"I contacted the Master. He is sending Wendy. She and that cat of hers will be here in an hour. Happy is also being informed."

The blue Exceed had gone with Panther Lily on a special training retreat that Gajeel's friend had set up himself.

Gray was breathing heavily as he watched the dust settle where the magic vehicle had pulled out. "We need to get to the hospital."

Gajeel nodded and began to lead the way.

* * *

doseofdream - _Here is the next update for you!_

Mnemosyne's Elegy - _Thank you so much! I am new to this so I love any pointers I can get! And I agree, I love their snarky banter._


	3. Chapter 3

Wendy and Carla showed up quite a bit earlier than they had expected and were immediately admitted into the back where Natsu was. Where Gajeel and Gray were told they were not allowed to be. Multiple times. Gajeel was content to snack on some iron scraps he had found on their way to the hospital. Gray angry flipped through a magazine before sighing and trying again from the beginning, only to end up angrily flipping the pages again. It had seemed like hours before Wendy came out. The poor girl looked exhausted.

"Gajeel I need your help."

The Dragon Slayer stood up. Wendy was like a little sister to the Dragon Slayers, if she asked they listened.

"Wait. Why him?" Gray asked. "Is Natsu ok?"

Wendy nodded. "I think he will be. But he has a severe case of iron poisoning."

"What? From breathing it in?"

"No… it looks like he tried to eat it…"

Gajeel would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious.

"But he's breathing again?" Gray pressed.

"Yes!" Wendy nodded before grabbing Gajeel's hand and dragging him into the back.

Natsu looked like hell had slapped him in the face. His skin was a nasty ashen color, his face was contorted in pain, and he was sweating a ridiculous amount. Wendy's hands were already glowing green as she tried to relieve his pain.

"Gajeel can you get the iron out?" Her voice was strained as she concentrated on what she was doing. Carla was hovering over her shoulder monitoring her magic output with a disapproving scowl.

"Yeah."

Wendy kept Natsu as relaxed as she could while Gajeel sensed where the iron was. "Damn. No wonder he's so sick. I don't even eat this much unless I need the energy."

* * *

Shortly after Wendy came for Gajeel, Lucy and Levy hurried into the waiting room. "Gray! How is he?" Lucy was breathless.

"He's breathing again. Wendy said she think's he'll be ok."

"Thank god." Lucy smiled in relief before suddenly slapping Gray hard. "Then I can ask you – just how dumb are you?! I realize you and Natsu are rivals or whatever! But you seriously didn't think to give him a way to breathe?!"

"Geez. Gajeel is the one who gave him iron poisoning!" Gray rubbed his reddened arm.

"Did I ask you what Gajeel did?!" She yelled. "Beat each other up? Fine! Lose more brain cells why don't you! But we are a team! And teammates DON'T KILL EACH OTHER!"

Lucy was yelling, but Gray could see that she wasn't angry but scared. If he was being honest with himself he had been scared too. The thought that they had almost lost one of their closest friends was terrifying. As Lucy began to sob Gray pulled her into a hug.

"I am so sorry." Gray murmured in her hair. "I really am. We took it too far this time. It was just another stupid fight that went too far."

She sniffed wiping her eyes. "I know you wouldn't actually try to kill him. Not without good reason anyway."

Gray chuckled.

Gajeel stepped into the waiting room. "Salamander's fine. You can visit him now."

Levy, who had chosen to wisely stay away from Gray and Lucy, hurried to his side.

"Hey Shrimp, what are you doing here?"

Levy crossed her arms, a faint blush creeping on her face. "Well I heard a Dragon Slayer was in the hospital, and Lucy was certain she had heard it was Natsu. But on the off chance it was you…"

Gajeel sniffed and looked out the window. "As if I'm weak enough to be put in the hospital."

"Fine. Then you can take the train ride home by yourself." Levy attempted to sound as stubborn as the Iron Dragon Slayer.

He smirked. "Since you bothered to come all the way down here you might as well buy me a drink."

"You're the one who just finished a mission!"

"Whatever. Maybe I'll pay if you can keep up with those short legs." With that he walked out the door with Levy following close behind.

* * *

Gray and Lucy found Wendy sleeping soundly in a chair next to Natsu's bed, Carla was resting similarly in her lap.

"Man, they look exhausted." Gray watched Lucy cover the small girl with a blanket off the end of Natsu's bed.

"Its not like he gets cold." She shrugged. "And yeah Carla was really pushing herself to get here quickly too."

Gray looked over at Natsu. "He looks a lot better."

At the sound of Gray's voice Natsu sat up quickly, eyes flaring. "Hey, you ice bastard!"

Gray sighed. "Is that really how you wake up?"

Natsu was about to argue before he caught sight of Lucy behind Gray. "Oh! Hey Luce! What are you doing here?"

"Visiting you stupid!" She gave him a hug. "I can't believe you let Gajeel and Gray beat you."

"They didn't beat me!" Natsu protested. "They attacked me out of nowhere! Then even worse! They did the mission without me!"

" _That's_ the part you're upset about?" Gray shook his head somehow not surprised.

"Popsicle pants over here probably was just worried I'd finish the mission before he could even freeze one of 'em."

"No! I just wanted the whole reward instead of having to spend the majority of it on property damages!"

Lucy nodded sagely. "That's understandable."

"You mean the reward that Gajeel is currently spending on Levy?" Natsu smirked.

Gray paused a second to think about it before rolling his eyes. "Dammit. No wonder he was so quick to get out of here."

"Serves you right for trying to kill me droopy-eyes."

"You realize you nearly died from _iron_ poisoning too right? And if it had just been my ice you could have broken out instantly."

"You know what I'm hearing? Excuses." Natsu jumped out of bed. "Just fight me Fullbuster!"

"That's why you got your ass frozen in the first place flame brain!" Gray snapped.

Lucy sighed and left the room. Even with the door closed she could hear the loud bickering. A nurse hurried up to the room but Lucy stopped her. "Unless it's _really_ important I wouldn't go in there."

"The patient shouldn't be under so much stress so soon! He's still recovering." The nurse looked frantically at the door behind Lucy.

"Watch where your stupid flames go! You almost got Wendy!" Gray's voice scolded.

"I would never hit Wendy! She's actually a good teammate! Unlike a certain stripper I know!"

"For the last time I'm not a stripper!"

"Then where are your pants?!"

"Dammit! I just had them!"

"What an idiot…"

Lucy nodded. "Trust me. He's fine."

The nurse reluctantly left.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" Natsu's enraged voice grew louder as the door open and closed.

Gray was suddenly next to Lucy with Wendy and Carla's sleeping forms in his arms. Thankfully he was wearing pants too. "We should get out of here quick."

Glancing back at the door the Celestial wizard inquired, "Should I be concerned?"

Gray shrugged. "No. I just froze his body in some sturdy ice. He won't be able to break out right away without blowing up the whole hospital wing. Then I reminded him how pissed Gramps would be if he blew up a hospital with so many innocent, injured civilians in it."

"Nice guilt trip." Lucy grinned. "That might actually work."

"In case it doesn't…" the ice-make wizard hurried them to the exit. A few seconds later the fire alarm lacrimas started blaring. "Yep. Time to go."

* * *

doseofdream - _Here it is to sate your curiosity!_

Guest - _One of Natsu's best qualities is his stubbornness. I think so anyway. :) And yes, it would have been an incredibly lame way to die considering everything else he's survived._


End file.
